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INDESTRUCTIBLE, 


FAIRY  MOONBEAM'S  SERIES. 


MoLOUGHLIN  BEOS.  PUBLISHEBS,  H.  Y. 


* 


CHILDREN'S  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


I    ALPHABET. 


C  D  E  F 
G  H  I  J  K  L 
MNOPQR 
S  T  U  Y  W  X 
Y  Z  & 


abode  f'g 
h  i  j  k  1  in  n 
o  p  q  r  s  t  u 

v  w  x  j  z 


A  VERY  poor  couple  once  lived  in  a  village  near  a  wood, 
where  they  used  to  work  ;  but  as  they  had  a  family  of  seven 
little  children,  all  boys,  they  could  hardly  manage  to  get  food 
enough.  The  least  boy  was  so  tiny  that  he  was  called  HOP 
o'  MY  THUMB  ;  but  though  so  small,  he  was  very  clever.  One 
night,  when  all  the  children  were  lying  in  bed,  their  parents 
were  crying  sadly,  because  there  was  no  food  in  the  house  ; 
and  Hop  o'  my  Thumb  was  quite  in  a  fright,  when  he  heard 
them  say,  that  they  would  take  all  their  little  ones  into  the 
wood  next  day,  and  there  leave  them,  that  they  might  not 


see  them  die  of  hunger.  So  he  got  up  very  early  in  the 
morning,  and  filled  his  pockets  with  pebbles ;  and  when  he 
and  his  brothers  went  into  the  wood,  he  dropped  the  stones 
one  by  one  as  he  walked  along,  and  by  this  means,  when  it 
was  getting  dark,  they  found  the  way  home  again.  But  the 
next  time  the  poor  couple  took  their  children  to  the  wood, 
the  little  fellow  could  not  get  pebbles,  for  he  had  been  locked 
up  all  night,  and  had  nothing  but  a  few  crumbs  to  drop  on 
the  road,  and  these  the  birds  soon  ate  up.  The  wind  howled, 
and  the  rain  fell,  and  the  poor  children  thought  they  should 
all  perish ;  but  they  still  kept  moving  on,  in  the  hope  of  get- 
ting help. 

Hop  o'  my  Thumb  kept  a  good  look  out,  and  at  last  he  saw 
*  light  not  far  off.     So  he  cheered  up  his  brothers,  and  on 


they  went,  till  they  reached  a  large  house,  from  which  the 
light  was  seen  to  come.  After  they  had  knocked  at  the  door, 
a  pleasant-looking  dame  opened  it ;  and  Hop  o'  my  Thumb 
told  how  they  had  lost  their  way  in  the  wood,  and  were  very 
tired  and  hungry.  As  soon  as  she  heard  their  story,  she  told 
them  to  go  away  as  fast  as  they  could,  because  her  husband, 
who  was  an  Ogre,  and  very  fond  of  eating  children,  would 
soon  be  home.  But  they  all  cried  so  much,  and  begged  so 
kard  for  food  and  shelter,  that  at  last  she  let  them  in. 

The  Ogre's  wife  had  only  just  time  to  hide  the  poor  chil- 
dren, when  the  Ogre  came  in,  and  ordered  her  to  lay  the 
cloth,  and  bring  in  some  sucking-pigs  for  his  supper.  Just 
as  he  began  to  use  his  great  carving-knife  and  fork,  he  cried 
put  gruffly,  "  I  smell  child's  flesh  I"  His  wife  said  it  wa» 


only  the  freshly  killed  calf  ;  but  he  was  not  to  be  put  off  so 
easily,  and,  on  looking  about,  he  found  the  poor  boys  under 
the  bed.  The  Ogre  gave  a  look  of  fierce  joy  when  he  saw 
them,  but  he  thought  it  better  to  fatten  them  up  before  he 
killed  them  ;  so  he  told  his  wife  to  give  them  some  supper, 
and  put  them  to  bed,  in  the  same  room  where  his  daughters 
were  sleeping. 

Hop  o'  my  Thumb,  fearing  mischief,  could  ,iot  sleep  ;  so 
he  got  out  of  bed,  and,  on  looking  about,  saw  tl  at  the  Ogre's 
daughters  all  had  crowns  on  their  heads: ;  he  then  changed 
these  for  the  nightcaps  worn  by  his  brothers  and  himself, 
and  when  the  Ogre  came  up  in  the  dark,  with  his  great  knife 
to  kill  the  poor  boys,  he  cut  the  throats  of  his  own  children, 
instead!  At  peep  of  day,  Hop  o'  my  Thumb  awoke  his 
brothers,  and  made  them  quickly  get  away  with  him  from 


the  house.  After  they  were  gone,  the  Ogre,  grinning  sav- 
agely, went  up  to  the  bed-room  ;  but  he  became  almost  mad 
when  he  found  he  had  killed  his  daughters,  and  the  little 
boys  were  all  gone. 

The  Ogre  now  put  on  his  magic  boots,  with  which  he  could 
take  seven  leagues  at  a  stride,  and  set  off  in  pursuit  of  the 
poor  runaway  boys  ;  but  Hop  o'  my  Thumb  had  made  them 
all  hide  in  a  hole  under  a  rock.  By-and-by  the  Ogre  came 
back  tired  and  in  a  very  bad  humor,  and  threw  himself  on 
this  very  rock  to  sleep.  A  kind  Fairy  now  appeared  to  the 
children,  and  gave  Hop  o'  my  Thumb  a  nut  to  crack  as  soon 
as  he  should  reach  the  Ogre's  house  ;  but  the  Fairy  told  him 
he  must  first  take  off  the  Ogre's  boots,  and  send  his  brothers 
home,  and  afterwards  put  on  the  magic  boots  himself,  and 
make  the  best  of  his  way  to  the  Ogre's  house. 


Hop  o'  my  Thumb,  with  the  help  of  the  kind  Fairy,  soon 
removed  the  Ogre's  seven-leagued  boots  while  he  was  asleep, 
and  put  them  on  his  own  little  legs  ;  but  as  they  were  magic 
boots,  they  fitted  him  as  well  as  the  Ogre,  just,  indeed,  as  if 
they  had  been  made  for  him.  He  now  called  his  brothers 
out  of  the  hole  in  the  rock,  and  put  them  in  the  way  to  reach 
home.  He  then  strode  on  in  his  magic  boots,  till  he  came  to 
the  Ogre's  house,  and,  on  cracking  the  nut,  he  found  inside 
a  paper  with  these  words  : — 

"  Go  unto  the  Ogre's  door, 

These  words  speak,  and  nothing  more; 

'  Ogress,  Ogre  cannot  come  ; 

Great  key  give  to  Hop  o'  my  Thumb.'  " 

When  the  Ogre's  wife  first  saw  Hop  o'  my  Thumb,  she  was 
ready  to  kill  him  for  having  caused  the  death  of  her  daugh-? 


ters  ;  but  no  sooner  did  he  utter  the  magic  words — 
"  Ogress,  Ogre  cannot  come ; 
Great  key  give  to  Hop  o'  my  Thumb." 

than  she  gave  him  the  key  of  the  gold  chest,  and  told  him  to 
take  as  much  as  he  chose.  When  he  saw  the  great  heap  of 
money  in  the  chest,  he  thought,  like  a  good  subject,  he  should 
like  to  help  the  King  to  some  of  the  treasure  ;  and  so  he 
made  the  Ogre's  wife  give  him  as  many  bags  full  of  gold  as 
he  could  take  away  in  several  journeys. 

While  Hop  o'  my  Thumb  was  so  well  employed  in  taking 
away  the  wicked  Ogre's  treasure,  that  monster  was  still  sleep- 
ing, after  his  useless  journey  in  search  of  the  poor  chil- 
dren, on  the  rock,  where  Hop  o'  my  Thumb  left  him.  When 
he  awoke,  and  found  his  magic  boots  gone,  and  his  limbs  so 
stiff  that  he  could  not  move,  he  made  a  hideous  noise,  which 
aroused  all  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  and  they  all  flew  at 
him  in  great  fury,  and  gored  him  to  death. 


Hop  o*  my  Thumb  now  went  to  Court,  laden  with  his 
hard  won  spoil,  and  paid  his  respects  to  the  King,  who  did 
him  the  favor  to  accept  of  his  rich  gifts,  and  rewarded  him 
by  making  him  his  Head  .Forester,  and  his  father  and 
brothers  foresters  under  him  ;  and  whenever  the  King  went 
out  hunting,  the  little  fellow  used  to  ride  by  his  side,  on  a 
pretty,  high-spirited  little  horse,  with  rich  velvet  clothing. 
The  Ogre's  kind-hearted  wife  was  also  invited  to  Court,  and 
created  Duchess  of  Dollalolla ;  and  she  shared  the  rest  of 
her  husband's  wealth  with  Hop  o'  my  Thumb,  who  was 
greatly  beloved  by  all  for  his  spirit  and  good  sense  ;  indeed, 
his  Majesty  at  last  dubbed  him  a  Knight,  and  made  him  his 
chief  Privy  Councillor,  saying,  that  as  he  had  been  always 
so  shrewd  and  clever  in  helping  his  brothers,  he  must  surely 
be  able  to  give  hi™  good  advice  whenever  he  might  need 


THE  NEW  BOOK. 
Mama,  see  what  a  pretty  book 

My  dear  papa  has  brought, 
That  I  may  at  the  pictures  look, 

And  by  the  words  be  taught. 

He  knew  I  had  been  good,  you  said, 
And  had  learned  all  my  spelling; 

Tin  very  much  obliged  to  you, 
My  doar  mama,  for  telling. 

And  that  when  I  am  better  taught, 
And  read  with  greater  ease, 

Some  more  new  books  shall  then  be 

[bought* 
His  little  child  to  please. 

My  dear  papa,  he  is  so  kind — 

I  dearly  love  a  book; 
And  dearly  too,  I  love  to  find 

These  pictures — pray  do  look! 

And,  0,  dear,  if  I  could  but  read 

As  fast  as  I  can  spell, 
How  very  happy  I  should  be, 

I  love  to  read  so  well. 

I  know  mama,  you'll  tell  me  that 

To  practice  is  the  way, 
So  will  you  kindly  let  me,  now, 

Another  lesson  say. 


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